Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz prays before the start of his Religious Liberty Rally in Des Moines, Iowa, in August. He is among the Republican candidates who say there is a "war on faith" in America.

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Originally published on December 11, 2015 3:41 pm

Terrorism and economic woes may be big concerns, but Republican candidate Ted Cruz sees another issue dominating the presidential race.

Cruz says religious people, devout Christians in particular, are routinely marginalized and harassed for their beliefs, and that such treatment has gotten worse under the Obama administration.

At a rally in South Carolina last month, Cruz invited four people he called "religious liberty heroes" as his special guests, including a young woman who was ordered by a federal judge not to include a prayer in her high school graduation speech and a couple who were sued for refusing to accommodate a same sex wedding at a chapel they owned.

"If I'm elected president," Cruz shouted, "I will instruct the Department of Justice and the IRS and every other federal agency that the persecution of religious liberty ends today!"

Cruz is hardly alone among the Republican candidates in highlighting what he calls "a war on faith in America." Religious liberty is a prominent theme in the campaigns of Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum and Ben Carson. Even Jeb Bush, hardly a favorite of evangelicals, has established a "Religious Liberty Advisory Council."

Conservatives Say Religion Under Threat

The Supreme Court's legalization of same sex marriage and the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act have brought religious freedom concerns to the forefront, but many of the struggles are decades old, such as whether prayers or other religious activities can be permitted in official settings.

The First Amendment bars Congress from passing any law that suggests an "establishment" of religion but also prohibits legislation that limits its "free exercise."

"There is no war against the legitimate exercise of your rights as a religious person to express yourself," says Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "[The problem] is when you decide you want the government to bless it, fund it, or in some way support your particular ideas."

Conservatives, however, argue that banning school prayer and other activities violates the "free exercise" provision and thus constitutes an infringement of religious freedom.

"It's this idea of trying to push religion to the private square," says Asma Uddin, legal counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a law firm that has supported numerous religious groups. "To the extent that it comes into the public square, it can't have any real impact. Religion is OK, [but only] as long as it doesn't really affect anyone or anything."

It's difficult for evangelicals to argue that Christians in America suffer like they do in the Middle East or in other parts of the world, but they say there is a softer persecution in the United States.

"What happens," says Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, "is that when people see someone denied the freedom to exercise their faith, they feel less secure in their own rights, so they begin to step back. They may not personally encounter it, but they feel like at any moment they could ... so they stop exercising it."

The Challenge Of Anti-Muslim Sentiment

So can a political campaign gain traction today if it champions the argument that religious liberty in America is in jeopardy?

One complicating factor is the rise of anti-Muslim sentiment in the country, a development that weakens the religious freedom cause.

Uddin of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a Muslim and has found that some of the religious freedom advocates she has met have a double standard when it comes to Islam.

"There is a problematic element among certain segments of the population," she says, "that seem to be very much in favor of religious liberty, but only for Christians and explicitly not for Muslims."

She says she often encounters anti-Muslim sentiment in her work, as she did recently when speaking at a "Stand Up for Religious Liberty" rally.

"I went up to the podium and said, 'I'm here as a Muslim American supporting your religious freedom, but I fully expect that in return you support mine,'" she says. But the response from the crowd, she recalls, was "hundreds of people just silent and looking at me"

The Need To Defend Religious Freedom For All

Such prejudice bothers some advocates of religious freedom, including Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

"If we really believe in religious liberty, then religious liberty applies to everyone, and that means I'm not threatened by non-Christians having religious liberty," he says. "I think the only way the Gospel can advance is with free consciences, and I think evangelical Christians particularly ought to be the most vocal about religious liberty for our non-Christian neighbors and friends."

Robert George, the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University and a leading lay Catholic intellectual, is also outspoken on the need to defend religious liberty for people of all non-Christian faiths, including Islam.

"It's scandalous to me when members of a community say, 'We don't want a mosque in our town, because the Muslims are terrorists,'" George says. "The vast majority of Muslims are not terrorists or sympathizers of terrorists. They want the same things for themselves and for their children that Christians want, that Jews want, that Hindus want, that all of our fellow citizens want."

In the aftermath of the Paris and San Bernardino shootings, the fear of more attacks has inflamed anti-Muslim sentiment, fueled in part by Donald Trump and others who are highlighting the threat of "Islamic terrorism." Those candidates who have emphasized the struggle for religious liberty as a mobilizing cause, from Cruz to Jeb Bush, have either ignored Trump's repeated anti-Muslim comments or condemned them.

For some conservatives, however, recent events may bring a decision point. They may need to choose between opposing Islam and advocating for religious freedom. To wage both fights at the same time is likely to become increasingly awkward.

Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Freedom of religion is a major campaign issue among Republican presidential candidates this year. Under this administration, they say, Americans with strong religious beliefs have become less able to practice their faith in public. NPR's Tom Gjelten reports.

TOM GJELTEN, BYLINE: Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas says this presidential race is a religious liberty election. He's put the issue at the center of his campaign.

(SOUNDBITE OF UNIDENTIFIED SONG)

UNIDENTIFIED ARTIST: (Singing) Crown him, crown him.

GJELTEN: An event Cruz hosted last month at Bob Jones University in South Carolina was billed as a rally for religious liberty. As his special guests, he invited people who felt they'd been persecuted for their Christian beliefs. Joe Kennedy, a high school football coach from the state of Washington, told about how he used to lead his players in a prayer at the end of every game.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOE KENNEDY: I would go and kneel on the 50-yard line and, you know, give thanks for the opportunity to lead these young men.

GJELTEN: Until the school authorities said he couldn't do that anymore.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KENNEDY: They told me that I was not allowed to pray with the kids, and if I wanted to pray, I had to wait 'til every single person has changed and left. And I had to go and pray out on the 50 all alone.

GJELTEN: And then Ted Cruz took the stage.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TED CRUZ: What kind of country have we become when kneeling in prayer is treated as an act of civil disobedience?

GJELTEN: Stories like the one coach Kennedy told, Cruz said, show that religious freedom is under threat in America. And it's one reason he's a candidate for the Republican nomination.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CRUZ: And if I am elected president, on the very first day, I will instruct the Department of Justice and the IRS and every other federal agency that the persecution of religious liberty ends today.

GJELTEN: For Cruz and other candidates, the contraceptive mandate in Obamacare and the legalization of same-sex marriage show how religious people under this administration have been forced to accept practices that go against their faith. Even Jeb Bush, hardly an evangelical favorite, has set up a Religious Liberty Advisory Council. Evangelical leaders don't say Christians suffer in America like in other countries, but they say if any Christian gets in trouble for demonstrating his or her faith too openly, others become more self-conscious about expressing their faith. One group offering free legal services and representation to people who think their religious freedom has been infringed is the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. Asma Uddin, one of the fund's attorneys, says she and her colleagues object to the way government tries to keep religion confined to a private sphere.

ASMA UDDIN: To the extent that it comes into the public square, it can't have any sort of real impact. Religion's OK as long as it doesn't really affect anything in any significant way.

GJELTEN: At issue here is the First Amendment. It says the government can neither establish religion nor prohibit its free exercise. Those who favor school prayer say it should be allowed under the free exercise provision. Those who want religion kept out of public settings point to the ban on establishing a religion. Barry Lynn is executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

BARRY LYNN: There is no war against the legitimate exercise of your rights as a religious person to express yourself. What there is a problem with is when you decide you want the government to bless it, to fund it, in some way to support your particular religious ideas.

GJELTEN: In fact, those fighting for more religious liberty have some hurdles to overcome. First, their arguments have to apply across the board. Attorney Asma Uddin is a Muslim, and in her work with the Becket Fund, she has seen a double standard when it comes to whose religious freedom warrants protection.

UDDIN: There is a problematic element around religious liberty among certain segments of the population that seem to be very much in favor of religious liberty, but only for Christians and explicitly not for Muslims.

GJELTEN: Donald Trump wants to keep Muslims out of the country. Ben Carson says he couldn't support a Muslim for president. Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz have both said they'd only accept Christian refugees from Syria, no Muslims. Asma Uddin says she often encounters anti-Muslim sentiment, like when she spoke recently at a Stand Up for Religious Liberty rally.

UDDIN: I went up to the podium and said I am here as a Muslim-American supporting your religious freedom, but I fully expect that in return you support mine. And there was just a moment where you see hundreds of people suddenly silent and looking at me.

GJELTEN: One evangelical bothered by the double standard on religious liberty is Russell Moore. He heads the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission at the Southern Baptist Convention.

RUSSELL MOORE: If we really believe in religious liberty, then religious liberty applies to everyone. And that means that I'm not threatened by non-Christians having religious liberty. As a matter fact, I think the only way the gospel can advance is with free consciences. And I think evangelical Christians particularly ought to be the most vocal about religious liberty for our non-Christian neighbors and friends.

GJELTEN: Another challenge for religious liberty advocates is changing social mores. Among Ted Cruz's guests at his religious liberty rally were an Iowa couple who got sued for not allowing a same-sex wedding at a chapel they owned. Cruz introduced them as heroes, but in their testimony the couple acknowledged that their own children disagreed with them when it came to same-sex marriage. Surveys and facts show that Americans in general are becoming less religious, more secular. Russell Moore worries the importance of religious freedom is no longer appreciated as it once was.

MOORE: We have many people in the culture-making institutions in this country who simply don't understand a religious belief. They don't understand how religious belief can be a motivator in people's lives.

GJELTEN: Some evangelicals say secularism itself is a kind of religion. So when government limits Americans from exercising their faith in public, maybe it's favoring one religion - secularism - over others. Not surprisingly, secular people disagree - that story next week. Tom Gjelten, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.